Welcome to my health file.
My name is John Parsons, a doctor of chiropractic and my aim is to promote chiropractic and the healthcare secrets of natural products and foods,
to warn of the dangers of certain unnatural products and procedures,
and to make available the most time-tested natural products in the world, wherever possible free.

Sunday, 10 August 2008

Muscle Weakness From Statins

Muscle weakness from statins can be a sign of a serious side effect, and should be brought to the attention of your doctor right away. In fact, due to severe muscle breakdown and even deaths, a popular statin called Baycol was recalled several years ago.

Muscle weakness is one of the most documented side effects from long term use of statin medications, and this could lead to total muscle cell breakdown, called rhabdomyolysis, which could cause kidney failure and in some cases, death.

What are some of the other statin side effects?In addition to muscle weakness from using statins, side effects from long term use of statin drugs may include severe liver problems due to the medication's effect on liver enzymes. Therefore, anyone with liver disease or prior liver issues probably should not take Lipitor, Zetia, Zocor and other cholesterol drugs... all of the manufacturers actually warn against it. Research has shown that statins can also cause sexual dysfunction and performance problems, as well as memory loss, personality changes and irritability, and statins decrease your body's supply of CoEnzyme Q10 (CoQ10), an essential nutrient for cardivascular strength and function. There are natural cholesterol lowering ingredients, some of which have been shown to outperform statins in lowering cholesterol, without the possible muscle damage. (see posting on high vegetable diet reducing cholesterol).